A pair of Kings beat a full house at Glen Helen Grand Prix

Ultra4 series Champion and former “King of the Hammers” Loren Healy made the switch to King Shocks just in time for qualifying at the Ultra4 series season ender at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, Ca. Healy bolted new King, “Pure Race” coil-overs and bypass shocks onto his rig and with only a few minor adjustments went out and qualified fifth in a field of 42 rigs that included two other KOH Kings and a long list of hard chargers hell bent on seizing the last victory of the 2011 season.

The Glen Helen course did not have a boulder in sight but the steep hills, huge jumps and tight corners rocked the competitors in only a few hours of qualifying on Friday. The crews worked late into the night replacing blown engines, fried transmissions and broken axles. The race itself would be equally harsh, after four hours of incredible racing on Saturday, there were ten rigs still running with only four battling on the lead lap. Loren Healy ran a smart race clicking off consistent laps to stay ahead of second place finisher and fellow King Shocks racer Jason Picket in his Carnage Crew Garage built #4444.

The victory for Healy adds to an already impressive list of accomplishments for the popular driver. A long-time recreational wheeler, he got his first taste of competition in 2009 when he traveled from his home in New Mexico to compete in the King of the Hammers race (KOH). He and a few friends put together a car from junkyard parts just to see what they could do. They finished second in the LCQ but only went a few miles in the race when the car caught on fire. For 2010 they showed up with a new Jimmy’s 4×4 car and won, which had a lot of people asking who is this Loren Healy guy? The 2010 season was very successful for Loren being crowned the King, winning the Silverstate 300 desert race and taking the Ultra4 series title.

“I never dreamed I would be a professional racer,” says Loren, “it just happened. I had always heard that Kings were the best in the industry. Thanks to our success last season we got the sponsorship support we needed to buy the Kings. The Kings were ready to go right out of the box. My favorite part of racing is catching big air. The way we were running the course backwards, the jumps were really steep with flat landings. The Kings handled the landings fine and worked great in the corners too. Our next race will be KOH so we’ll have to change from short course settings to a desert set-up but I know King will be there to help. I couldn’t be happier with their quality and their customer support.”